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Old 03-11-2009, 10:53 PM   #1
Rallysport
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Important news for those with insurance questions!

Some of you may recall my opinion of the auto insurance industry and how crooked much of it is. My reasoning is from my 25 years as a bodyshop owner dealing with claims adjusters and trying to get paid fairly (if at all) for repairs done! Many may recall that I have stated Progressive Insurance is the WORST of them all to deal with. Now, with the advent of the following story, I see Progressive flat out sucks even before you file a claim...if at all! Unbelievable! The following is from the "North County Gazette" in New York State.
Steer Clear Of Progressive Insurance
Posted on Saturday, 7 of March , 2009 at 10:07 am
COMMENTARY

If you watch TV at all, you must have seen one of those annoying Progressive Insurance commercials.



Those things that feature the twit with the overly red lipstick have been rated as among the worst in commercials.



They tout comparison shopping for car insurance rates but we’re here to tell you that if you tell them that you’re going to comparison shop because you don’t like their rates or their business practices, they’ll arbitrarily cancel your insurance and maybe tell you a week later, after they’ve left you without insurance coverage for a week.



That happened last week to one of their “customers” who has been with Progressive for over 10 years with no claims.



Progressive has an extremely annoying practice of starting to dun you 60 days in advance of your policy renewal for the premium and hey, if you can’t afford to pay the whole premium at once, they generously allow you to pay it in installments—-at usurious interest rates that put even the credit card companies to shame.



This week we learned of one Progressive insured who they started hounding shortly after New Years for policy renewal of Feb. 28. While they want nearly 20% from you for installment payments, they want you to pay them 60 days in advance and of course, they aren’t going to pay you any interest for their free use of your money for 60 days.



On or about Feb. 1, well in advance of the policy renewal, payment was made. But that wasn’t good enough for Progressive. About two weeks about payment had been made and the bank showed they had cashed the check, Progressive sent out a nasty “reminder” notice, to pay up or they’d cancel the policy.



At this point, the policy still wasn’t due and there was still more than two weeks left for payment to be made. And, as the customer found out—even when one “pays up”, Progressive still cancels the policy but doesn’t bother to tell you until they get around to it.



The insured wrote on the notice that they were dissatisfied with the company’s business practices and the constant “dunning” when the money wasn’t yet due and in this particular case, had already been paid. The customer enclosed a note on the bottom of the dunning notice and returned it to the company, stating that they were extremely dissatisfied with Progressive and were going to start comparison shopping—-just as their commercial encourages people to do.



So much for the exercise of free speech in America. Progressive Insurance apparently does not believe in the First Amendment.



Apparently the customer’s statement they were going to comparison shop for auto insurance prompted the cancellation notice from the company but while the company was after the customer’s money 60 days in advance of it being due, they didn’t bother to mail out a notice to the insured that they had canceled the person’s auto insurance until four days after they had done so.



Thus from 12:01 a.m. Feb. 28 until midday on March 5, some six days, the customer had been driving without auto insurance and did not know it even though the policy had been paid in full until Aug. 28 and had been paid THREE WEEKS IN ADVANCE OF IT BEING DUE!!!!



This is unconscionable. Suppose the person had been involved in an accident during that time? Why did the company wait until three days after it had canceled the policy to inform the insured? Why wasn’t the customer’s insurance agent advised so that efforts could have been to insure the customer through another company?



If you’re insured with Progressive now, we strongly suggest you run like hell and place your insurance with another company on which can depend and trust. If this is how Progressive handles a policy renewal, can you imagine how they would handle a claim?



A look around the Internet indicates that there are a LOT of dissatisfied people who have dealt with Progressive. http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?c...auto+insurance



Here’s one and this practice annoys us too. What does your credit rating have to do with your driving record. Just because you have trouble paying your bills doesn’t mean that you’re a driving risk.



Here’s what one potential—-and I mean potential because it’s highly unlikely they will do business with Progressive real soon—had to say.



“I recently decided to check around to see if I could get a better deal on my insurance than I currently have. When asked for my Social Security Number I did not provide it. I did not want them to run a credit report. I only wanted a quote, not to purchase insurance at that time.



They came in higher than my current insurance company and so I did nothing else. Two weeks later I receive an e-mail indicating that they had run a credit report through TransUnion. I contacted them and asked why they ran a credit report without my authorization. They said that I authorized them to do so. Since I never gave them my Social Security Number I asked how they could run a credit report. I keep getting the same message back. That I authorized them to do so.



Well, I’m really stumped as to how they could do it without me giving them my number. Beware, even if you don’t give out your Social Security Number they seem to be able to manage to run a credit report. This is very deceptive and dishonest. I could have understood them running a credit report had I chosen to purchase the insurance but I did not. I’m very upset that they would do this. So beware, even if you don’t give them authority to run a credit report they seem to be able to find out what your SSN is”.



DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT do business with Progressive Insurance and if you already have a policy there—move it ASAP or else you could be driving without insurance unbeknownst to you. The New York State Insurance Department needs to take a long, hard look at Progessive and its business practices. 3-7-09
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Old 03-11-2009, 10:57 PM   #2
Mindz
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Wow, that's some shady stuff going on right there.
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Old 03-11-2009, 11:08 PM   #3
Zabo
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I had them, and canceling was very easy for me. I just called them up one night, asked to cancel my policy on the Magna and 3-5 days later the money paid in full minus the week I had the policy was placed back into my account.

Out of 179.00 I got 173 and change back. Still, this is just BS. Definitely not going to use them for my Camaro Insurance as I had planned. Also, steer away from Geico; they explicitly told me that they do not cover Michigan due to it's no fault policy or some other BS. I will definitely be going through Encompass like I have with the truck as a rider. Holy crap was I impressed with their work and the fact that they were as pissed with that Ford dealership fiasco as much as I was.

IIRC they even asked for money back from Don Seelye Ford (BS Ford people) that was to be put aside for an interior cleaning that they never did because "it was too hard." My arse.. Encompass has always served our family well and will be my choice for the Camaro.
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